The publication of declassified papers from thirty years ago has
brought new controversy over the British view of the 1981 hunger
strike, in which ten men, including Bobby Sands, died.

Seven were members of the IRA, three from the Irish National Liberation
Army (INLA). They were fasting as part of a campaign by republican
prisoners to defeat Thatcher’s efforts to criminalise the armed
struggle against British rule.

Despite heavy censorship in the traditional New Year release of
government archive papers, some new information emerged from the
documents released in London, Dublin and Belfast this week.

None of the papers discuss the motivation behind the hunger strikers’
actions, and none contain material of a military or intelligence
nature.

But controversially, a statement has been presented, attributed to a
prison warder at Long Kesh, which claims that members of the family of
one hunger striker, Raymond McCreesh, had talked him out of abandoning
his fast.

The conversation is alleged to have taken place during a visit to the
prison’s hospital wing.

That was strongly disputed by the family this week. His brother, Fr
Brian Mac Raois, particularly rejected suggestions that their mother,
Susan, told her son that he was “going back on your word”.

“That never happened,” he said. “My mother would never say anything like
that. The alleged statements by myself and my mother are very, very
inaccurate. One of the things we were assured going in [to meet his
brother] was that it would be totally confidential but I wrote an
account of it that evening because the whole thing was suspicious to
me.”

He said his brother was completely disorientated at the time. “It was
obvious to us that Raymond was totally and utterly confused. At one
stage we asked him did he know where he was and he said he was in
hospital in Scotland.”

The family, originally from County Armagh, said they believed the
episode was part of a plot to break the hunger strike.

“It stands as a testament to the depravity of the state at the time, and
as a measure of the shameless depths to which government was prepared to
go to achieve their goals.”

INTERNATIONAL OPINION

The release of documents on the 1981 hunger strike takes place amid a
current prison protest at Maghaberry jail, with the British government
again seeking to criminalise republicans.

Thirty years ago, the British were equally concerned with the public’s
view of its handling of prison protests.

A cabinet paper marked “one copy only” released this week records an
“informal discussion” at the end of a British cabinet meeting on 2 July,
1981

It noted “increasingly disturbing signs of an erosion of international
confidence in British policy” towards the IRA hunger strike at Long
Kesh. The government did not want to be portrayed as “inflexible”.

But it was the prospect of an intervention by the previous prime
minister, James Callaghan, which caused most anxiety. It was thought
Callaghan was about to make a speech proposing that the North of Ireland
“should become independent, with transitional arrangements under which
British troops and British financial assistance would remain available
for a limited period.

“His [Callaghan’s] views might well receive massive support from public
opinion in Britain, where there was already a widespread feeling in
favour of British withdrawal,” it admitted.

By then, four hunger strikers had already died. The immediate problem
was how to prevent further deaths, so the cabinet discussion moved on to
“compulsory feeding”.

“If done intravenously by modern methods,” it was proposed, “this should
not involve the violent scenes associated with the forcible feeding of
prisoners in the past.

“On the other hand, it was uncertain whether the prison doctors would be
willing to co-operate; and if intravenous feeding led to all the
protesting prisoners coming out on hunger strike, the authorities would
be faced with the enormous task of sustaining by such methods
indefinitely.” In the end, it was never tried.

The discussion ended with Thatcher summing up, saying “further thought
would need to be given to all possible courses of action in regard to
Northern Ireland, however difficult or unpalatable”.

The documents have also fuelled a continuing controversy within
republicanism over whether a genuine opportunity existed to end the
hunger strike in the days before the death of the fifth hunger striker,
Joe O’Donnell, in July 1981.

It has been suggested that handwritten alterations to the text of a
message sent to the IRA by MI6 (British military intelligence), were
made by Margaret Thatcher herself.

The alterations are inconsequential, and the letter itself, an apparent
attempt to formulate a deal to end the hunger strike, is unsigned.

The tentative offer agreed to three of the prisoners’ five demands, but
was presented trenchantly and in uncompromising language.

It ended with the warning: “If the reply we receive is unsatisfactory
and there is subsequently any public reference to this exchange we shall
deny that it took place. Silence will be taken as an unsatisfactory
reply.”

The documents show the Sinn Fein leadership then sought to ensure the
offer had British cabinet approval. However, the British insisted that
“before drafting any document for consideration by ministers we should
possess the Provisionals’ view”.

The Sinn Fein leadership then sought to alter the ‘tone’ of the
agreement, but not the content.

At the same time, an intermediary warned the British of “alarming
reports” inside the prison, and that “the possibility of any settlement
was now seriously in doubt”.

Nevertheless, according to cabinet files, the British government agreed
to send the IRA a further draft, enlarging upon the offer’s content but
not its substance.

“If it did not produce a response leading to the end of
the hunger
strike”, Thatcher said, her government would refute it.

That final statement never emerged, for reasons which remain unclear.
Historians have pointed to strong resistance to deal from within the
ranks of the British government for ending the initiative.

Joe McDonnell died on July 8. Following his death, and in the absence of
a further British statement, the process came to an end.

Danny Morrison, one of the key Sinn Fein figures who went into the
prison that July, said the documents vindicated the IRA’s decisions at
the time.

“I find these documents very refreshing,” he said. “At least they have
published what was happening. These conversations were recorded by
Michael Oatley [the MI6 officer] or his secretary. We never got the
final [British] position [before hunger striker] Joe O’Donnell died.”